Several studies have suggested that the carbon sink in the Southern Ocean—the ocean’s strongest region for the uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ —has weakened in recent decades. We demonstrated, on the basis of multidecadal analyses of surface ocean CO₂ observations, that this weakening trend stopped around 2002, and by 2012, the Southern Ocean had regained its expected strength based on the growth of atmospheric CO₂. All three Southern Ocean sectors have contributed to this reinvigoration of the carbon sink, yet differences in the processes between sectors exist, related to a tendency toward a zonally more asymmetric atmospheric circulation. The large decadal variations in the Southern Ocean carbon sink suggest a rather dynamic ocean carbon cycle that varies more in time than previously recognized.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Southern Ocean, carbon sink, CO2, carbon cycle
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Oceanography
Research Field:	Chemical oceanography
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Marine systems and management
Objective Field:	Measurement and assessment of marine water quality and condition
UTAS Author:	Tilbrook, B (Dr Bronte Tilbrook)
ID Code:	106766
Year Published:	2015
Web of Science® Times Cited:	219
Deposited By:	CRC-Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems
Deposited On:	2016-02-19
Last Modified:	2017-11-01
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